The $50,000 Challenge: 10 Picks For A 7.5% Return In One Week

By Bert Wilkison:After I made the top 10 on the leader board, competing against about a million other portfolios, in the most recent CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge just a couple of days before the challenge was cancelled due to participants gaming the system (I never made it past 39th place when the challenge was restarted), I was challenged - well, harassed actually - by a close colleague to publicly turn $50k into $53.75k in a week's time using equities with no known catalysts such as FDA decisions, etc. Also, no shorting of individual equities is allowed, but I can use ETFs and ETNs. Lastly, I cannot allocate more than 25%, or $12k of the original $48k to any individual stock or ETF. In other words, he wants me to generate a 7.5% return in one week with one arm tied behind my back. No easy task, but one that we bothComplete Story »

NEW DELHI: Exchange-traded funds, popularly known as ETFs, are a smart way of generating decent returns, same as that of the underlying benchmark. At the same time, it provides the much-need security to investors, who are often caught on the wrong side of the trade while trading. ETF is not as risky compared with other categories of equity instruments, since it carries a beta close to 1. It replicates the return on the benchmarks and does not try to outperform them.

ByMichael Nau:The development of exchange traded funds (ETFs) has been one of the most important financial innovations for individual investors in recent decades. Essentially, ETFs are open-end investment companies combining the close link between price and NAV of mutual funds with the intraday trading of closed end funds. ETFs are also more tax efficient than CEFs or mutual funds, because capital gains can only accrue after initial purchase.

The new head of the Bloc Québécois says he plans to recapture the hearts of Quebec voters by putting a greater emphasis on independence.
Mario Beaulieu, an ardent sovereigntist and the former head of the nationalist St. Jean Baptiste Society, won a slim victory on Saturday over his only opponent in the party’s leadership race, Bloc MP Andre Bellavance.
Beaulieu said explaining the benefits of breaking away from Canada will be his top priority.

ByAlexander Maxwell:
Editors' Note: This article covers a stock trading at less than $1 per share and/or with less than a $100 million market cap. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

By Joe Gelet:While the European crisis is filling the news, many stock investors do not have access to Forex markets. Many brokers such as TD Ameritrade (AMTD) now offer Forex, but some still do not have access to trade spot Forex directly without opening an additional brokerage account. Even so, a direct Euro short may not be the only way to profit from the Eurozone crisis.